MOSCOW, May 21. /TASS/. Russia’s coronavirus trends of the past eight days give reason to believe that the country has reached a virus plateau and the situation is stabilizing, the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing’s Central Research Institute of Epidemiology Deputy Director Alexander Gorelov told TASS.
"The past eight days saw neither a spike nor a sharp decline in cases. We can say that we have reached the so-called virus plateau and the situation is stabilizing," he pointed out. "Stability means there is hope that we are past the peak pressure point on medical facilities," Gorelov added.
He emphasized that according to the watchdog’s guidelines, a region needed about eight days to reach a certain landmark. Then the region’s governor and chief sanitary doctor can make a decision on entering the next phase of easing restrictions. May 12, when a non-working period came to an end in Russia, was a milestone date. However, if the situation changes in the next eight days, tougher restrictions will have to be restored.
Gorelov added that the plateau stage would last two to three weeks. "It depends, because quarantine measures made is possible to improve the epidemiological situation and prevent a spike in infections, usually it takes two to three weeks," he noted. "Our rules are very flexible and regional authorities have a broad mandate, there is no rule saying that the entire country should move from one phase of reopening to another at once," the expert said.
To date, a total of 317,554 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 92,681 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 3,099 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.